New Aelves

[Twitch of Izalith]

I had to look up what Nagas are - that people are talking about - Turns out that its a Hindu (Indian) snake god... Is it also a D & D thing? 

A couple of other random India/dark elf crossover facts

Malekith is an Indian name.

Morathi is an Indian language.

There, that totally explains why they chose the ancient Greece aesthetic... 

 

[Guest]

12 minutes ago, Turgol said:

That is not true. He did mention that steampunk dwarves were next

Anyone with access to the very first AoS campaign book with its mention of 'steamhead duardin' could have guessed that steampunk dwarves were coming at some point. It's one of the possible new factions that was most talked about and speculated about. Not exactly a convincing case for Hastings' supposed inside knowledge credentials.

[Soulsmith]

8 minutes ago, Twitch of Izalith said:

I had to look up what Nagas are - that people are talking about - Turns out that its a Hindu (Indian) snake god... Is it also a D & D thing? 

Yeah, naga are a pretty common site in fantasy, just check out the entire faction in warcraft.

[Twitch of Izalith]

3 minutes ago, Jamie the Jasper said:

What does 'Cthulhu Aelves' even mean though?

It doesn't mean anything. Its just a word people attach to anything they cant identify that has at least one tenticle...

Cthulhu is also used to describe anything with a cosmic horror vibe - which is a very long way from the DoK models - Battletome Fishmen would have been closer...

[Turgol]

4 minutes ago, Jamie the Jasper said:

Anyone with access to the very first AoS campaign book with its mention of 'steamhead duardin' could have guessed that steampunk dwarves were coming at some point. It's one of the possible new factions that was most talked about and speculated about. Not exactly a convincing case for Hastings' supposed inside knowledge credentials.

Precisely my point! And then in that same moment he introduced the idea that Ctulhu aelfs would come after that. Which isn’t true, as Maggotkin came first anyways. 

 

I still think he might be right; that shadowkin can have a Ctulhu like look and be the next completely new faction after Kharadron. 

[Twitch of Izalith]

Just now, Soulsmith said:

Yeah, naga are a pretty common site in fantasy, just check out the entire faction in warcraft.

I have never actually played Warcraft!!  video game wise I only play Darksouls/Bloodborne/Demon souls but I did think I remembered them from D&D

[Lucentia]

21 minutes ago, Twitch of Izalith said:

I had to look up what Nagas are - that people are talking about - Turns out that its a Hindu (Indian) snake god... Is it also a D & D thing? 

A couple of other random India/dark elf crossover facts

Malekith is an Indian name.

Morathi is an Indian language.

There, that totally explains why they chose the ancient Greece aesthetic... 

 

Now I'm actually kinda upset they didn't run with an Indian aesthetic, that would've been pretty dope.

Though in fairness I guess they're not exactly hugely Greek inspired either for the most part.

[Taketheskull]

It seems the Cauldron of Blood/Bloodwrack Shrine comes with 3 hero options, any of which can be mounted or not

• Death Hag
• Hag Queen
• Bloodwrack Medusa 

Maybe we won't see too many more heroes as part of this release?

[Aeryenn]

We've been hearing about cthulhu elves for a while now and to be honest you really need to have no idea about cthulhu mythology to associate it to DoK. Even if someone has little knowledge of cthulhu. I expect somebody calling minis cthulhu would likely describe minis with tentacles, horrors beyond imagination that bring madness to whoever witnesses the. Google Cthulhu Wars board game to have a better idea. And then we had more tentacles rumour engines and there is one on T. Shard mini. I'm also surprised to see two dark elves releases in the same year but still it makes more sense than calling DoK a Cthulhu Elves. As for the Mistweaver I believe it is a mini that will be part of another Aelf faction, one, that we would associate with post-high elf faction. Also I don't see GW to abandon such an interesting theme as all that's left of Dark Elves. They'd rather abandoned DoK. 

[Lucentia]

10 minutes ago, Taketheskull said:

It seems the Cauldron of Blood/Bloodwrack Shrine comes with 3 hero options, any of which can be mounted or not

• Death Hag
• Hag Queen
• Bloodwrack Medusa 

Maybe we won't see too many more heroes as part of this release?

Bloodwrack Medusa is not actually a hero on her current battletome, but I can certainly see them changing her role in the new book.

[Yokai]

53 minutes ago, Jamie the Jasper said:

It may even be entirely an invention of the community - I've certainly seen nothing to suggest that this 'Cthulhu Aelves' idea was seeded by Games Workshop.

That is correct. Almost entirely based on the tentacle-looking detail on the base of the Tenebrael figure, a few rumour engines, and Internet chinese whispers.

[Taketheskull]

12 minutes ago, Lucentia said:

Bloodwrack Medusa is not actually a hero on her current battletome, but I can certainly see them changing her role in the new book.

Yes, she now has like-bodied miniatures to lead!

[Thundercake]

my big beef with this release is that tomb kings were "too common", couldn't protect the IP, etc. etc. Then they give us half naked snake ladies with long hair. So undead snake riders and giant stone cats can't be protected but medusa's and a very common arhcatype can be?

Overlords were cool and imaginative in my opinion. This isn't.

[Menkeroth]

1 hour ago, Twitch of Izalith said:

I have never actually played Warcraft!!  video game wise I only play Darksouls/Bloodborne/Demon souls but I did think I remembered them from D&D

Yes, DnD introduced nagas as a typical fantasy race long before anyone else - as pretty all other fantasy stuff too, for the most part. And as far as nagas are concerned, they are inhabitants of Patala, one of the Hinduism underwords.

[Tiger]

49 minutes ago, Lucentia said:

Though in fairness I guess they're not exactly hugely Greek inspired either for the most part.

Don't think the various influences as separate entities that compete against one and other, think of them as various cells that are dancing together.

Khaine for instance feels as parts of Kali weaved with Ares.

 

[Aeryenn]

?Then on the other hand hastings was the one who first told us about cthulhu elves, right? If that's the case and he now says that his info fits DoK then i'm just sad. I so much wanted an army like Scourge Privateers with sea monsters and stuff. DoK don't cover my apetite for dark elves. Are there still unsolved rumour engines that can be connected to cthulhu elves? 

[Gecktron]

1 hour ago, Jamie the Jasper said:

Anyone with access to the very first AoS campaign book with its mention of 'steamhead duardin' could have guessed that steampunk dwarves were coming at some point. It's one of the possible new factions that was most talked about and speculated about. Not exactly a convincing case for Hastings' supposed inside knowledge credentials.

To defend Hastings here, he describes Endrinriggers months before the first teasers. This is impossible to guess.

Im not saying he get it always 100% right but he has at least some credibility.

[SuperHappyTime]

8 minutes ago, Thundercake said:

my big beef with this release is that tomb kings were "too common", couldn't protect the IP, etc. etc. Then they give us half naked snake ladies with long hair. So undead snake riders and giant stone cats can't be protected but medusa's and a very common arhcatype can be?

Overlords were cool and imaginative in my opinion. This isn't.

Can we all just go ahead and say the “Can’t defend IP” argument was drummed up by a community looking to discover why they were scorned and not actually a real thing?

My excitement here isn’t that we have Naga Aelves, but that the other old factions that have been split off into their own thing really are someday going to get some love.

[Twitch of Izalith]

1 hour ago, Lucentia said:

Now I'm actually kinda upset they didn't run with an Indian aesthetic, that would've been pretty dope.

Though in fairness I guess they're not exactly hugely Greek inspired either for the most part.

No you're right its only really present in the promo video - and inferred from harpies and medusae. They all look awesome either way. You might have your work cut out to get them on the table for Heat 2! when is it? April?

[SuperHappyTime]

1 minute ago, Gecktron said:

To defend Hastings here, he describes Endrinriggers months before the first teasers. This is impossible to guess.

Im not saying he get it always 100% right but he has at least some credibility.

The way he initially described KO was the biggest reason I wasn’t on board with it at first (I recall Dwarf Skypirates)

I think his connection is sneaking pictures to him, but that’s it. There isn’t much background beyond that.

[Gecktron]

38 minutes ago, Thundercake said:

my big beef with this release is that tomb kings were "too common", couldn't protect the IP, etc. etc. Then they give us half naked snake ladies with long hair. So undead snake riders and giant stone cats can't be protected but medusa's and a very common arhcatype can be?

Overlords were cool and imaginative in my opinion. This isn't.

Kharadrons are a great faction (I have 3K points now) but they were something completely new. GW was free to do something completely crazy. Daughters on the other hand have a established aesthetic. They had to include these design elements into the new models to keep some coherency. 
Also, I think elven-snake hybrids are pretty unique. The other big fantasy universe that has Nagas is Warcraft, and their Nagas are more beast like.

I think the reason why the new Daughters feel a bit lacking is the paint job. They keep it in line with the older dark elves colors. Even though they are new, the models feel already like we have seen them a thousand times. I would have preferred a new colour scheme, maybe keeping it in line with the first teaser and going for a more ancient Greece look? Tanned skin, black hair, bronze and earth tones would make them a bit more unique, but as I said before, probably GW wanted to keep them in line with the established colors. 

22 minutes ago, SuperHappyTime said:

Can we all just go ahead and say the “Can’t defend IP” argument was drummed up by a community looking to discover why they were scorned and not actually a real thing?

My excitement here isn’t that we have Naga Aelves, but that the other old factions that have been split off into their own thing really are someday going to get some love.

This is important! Now after both Sylvaneth and now the Daughters, GW has proven that they are willing to come back to older factions. If a army has comparatively new models and a unique theme, chances are high they will get a real battle tome down the line. So im hopeful my Swifthawk Agents will get something in the next 2-3 years.

[Soulsmith]

For the sake of it, I feel like pointing out that snake-bodied ladies is not a Greek thing at all. Medusa was only given a snake body in modern cinema. Greek sources never really mention anything except the snakes for hair and petrifying gaze. So both Greek and Hindu are correct  

[Jamopower]

This discussion has now realized into me buying a bunch of plastic elves that will become an unit of freeguild guard with militia weapons for my Order army. Not the most likely scenario, but the ways are twisted

[Richelieu]

8 minutes ago, Gecktron said:

Kharadrons are a great faction (I have 3K points now) but they were something completely new. GW was free to do something completely crazy. Daughters on the other hand have a established aesthetic. They had to include these design elements into the new models to keep some coherency. 
Also, I think elven-snake hybrids are pretty unique. The other big fantasy universe that has Nagas is Warcraft, and their Nagas are more beast like.

I think the new Daughters feel a bit lacking is the paint job. They keep it in line with the older dark elves colors. Even though they are new, the models feel already like we have seen them a thousand times. I would have preferred a new colour scheme, maybe keeping it in line with the first teaser and going for a more ancient Greece look? Tanned skin, black hair, bronze and earth tones would make them a bit more unique, but as I said before, probably GW wanted to keep them in line with the established colors. 

This is important! Now after both Sylvaneth and now the Daughters, GW has proven that they are willing to come back to older factions. If a army has comparatively new models and a unique theme, chances are high they will get a real battle tome down the line. So im hopeful my Swifthawk Agents will get something in the next 2-3 years.

I'm already thinking about how I want to paint these gals up.  Going to do some research on snake patterns, go back and try different skin tones on old elf miniatures, etc.  I did my Stormcast in the standard blue and gold of the Hammers of Sigmar, one because I couldn't resist ridiculous amounts of golden armor and two because my skills were a bit rusty having been away from the hobby for about 5 years when I started about a year ago.  But now i think i'm ready to dive into a paint scheme all my own.

[Swooper]

1 hour ago, Aryann said:

And then we had more tentacles rumour engines and there is one on T. Shard mini.

Which isn't even a tentacle, it's just some thorny branches/roots like several other models have on their bases. They're painted purple on the studio model, probably to represent unusual flora in Ulgu. I think the colour choice had a lot to do with people labelling it as a tentacle, and the whole "Cthulu elves" rumour spiralled out of hand from there.